


Bram Stoker Had Part Of It Right

by KahtyaSofia



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Reality, Gen, One Shot, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-26
Updated: 2009-11-26
Packaged: 2017-10-03 18:31:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KahtyaSofia/pseuds/KahtyaSofia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ianto just can't be at the Hub anymore and find himself in the sights of someone dangerous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bram Stoker Had Part Of It Right

**Author's Note:**

> Standalone set somewhere in S2, most likely before Reset. I started this in S1 but got sidetracked. Again, I am not a Gwen hater but I needed an antagonist and she was the obvious choice. This could also be AU cause there is way more antagonism in this than really exists in canon and Jack doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve. I had fun with the literary references, though.

"You can't do that, Jack!" Gwen yelled as she stormed across the Hub and in to his office.

"It's no longer open for discussion." Jack said mildly as he sat down at his desk.

"We need to wait a little longer to see if…"

"We're done waiting. You have your orders." Jack's voice was a clear indicator that his patience was at an end.

Gwen pressed her lips together and spun on her heel to storm out of the office. As she passed where Ianto stood by the door she turned to him, "It's too bad he's rubbed off on you more than you have on him."

The only change in Ianto's placid expression was a knitting of his brows as he watched Gwen storm past him and out in to the Hub.

Jack's angry shout brought her back immediately. "What the hell does that mean?"

"All the time you two spend together sneaking around in dark corners, it would be nice if Ianto could muster enough personality to rub off on you!" Gwen shouted with equal vehemence getting right up in Jack's face.

Jack's expression became one of cold fury as his bit out between tight lips and clenched teeth, "We don't sneak, and even if we did it would be absolutely none of your business. If you think Ianto is so lacking in personality, you haven't stopped thinking about yourself long enough to get to know him."

"What's to get to know? He's your shadow! You're shaping him in your image and he's so besotted he just goes right along! What's the matter, Jack? Can't handle someone with more backbone?"

"Like you?" came the quiet question from across the office. Ianto had spoken before Jack could. Gwen turned to look at Ianto, surprised by the steel behind the softly spoken words. "You can't shut up long enough to let Jack talk about the things he needs to get out. You only care about what you can get from him, not what you can give to him."

Ianto turned and left the office heading for the door to the Hub.

"Ianto!" Jack called, desperate to stop him before he reached the exit. "God damn you!" Jack spat in Gwen's face as he strode around the end of his desk to chase after Ianto.

"Jack! Ianto! I didn't mean it! I was angry!" she turned to chase after them.

Jack caught Ianto at the bottom of the steps and grasped his arm. He was relieved he felt only slight resistance to his touch. As Jack heard Gwen drawing nearer, he turned and halted her progress with a fiercely pointed finger.

Turning back to Ianto, Jack ran his hands up and down his arms, "Ianto…" he didn't know what to say. He didn't think he had anything to apologize for. He'd do it though, if it would ease the look of pain in Ianto's eyes.

"It's okay, Jack," Ianto said softly, "I just need to leave."

"Ianto?" Gwen said from behind Tosh's workstation.

Jack saw Ianto's jaw clench as he turned his face completely away from Gwen.

"Just leave it, Gwen! You've said just about enough!" Jack barked at her. He saw Tosh and Owen both step towards her in the event she needed to be restrained. He wasn't sure if they were preparing to protect Gwen from him, or Ianto from Gwen.

"Don't let her drive you out." Jack said quietly.

"I just need to get away for awhile, Jack. You get things settled down here."

Jack grasped Ianto's face between his hands and stroked his thumbs along his cheekbones. He looked deeply in to Ianto's eyes and nodded. Jack pressed several firm kisses to his lips and one final one to his forehead.

He felt Ianto lean into the kiss slightly before he turned to walk out the Hub door.

Jack turned and walked up the steps, heading for his office. As he passed Gwen he spoke without looking at her, "I don't want to see or hear you right now."  
......................................................................................

Jack had waited several hours before trying Ianto's mobile. He wasn't altogether surprised when he didn't receive an answer. As the afternoon progressed into evening though, he began to grow a little concerned.

Bringing up an instant message screen, Jack typed a question to Toshiko.

JACK: Tosh?

TOSHIKO: Yes, Jack?

JACK: Have u heard frm Ianto since he left?

TOSHIKO: No.

TOSHIKO: Haven't u?

JACK: No.

JACK: No ans on his mobile.

TOSHIKO: He just needs time.

TOSHIKO: U (of all people) know how sensitive he is deep down.

JACK: Ur right.

JACK: Can't help but worry

TOSHIKO: Pls let me know when u hear frm him.

JACK: Will do

JACK: If u hear frm him first……..

TOSHIKO: I will.

..........................................................................

By midnight, Jack was prowling the Hub. The team had gone home with barely ten words spoken between them. He wasn't ready, yet, to check the IM logs to see the extent of the fallout. He was fairly certain Tosh &amp; Owen weren't approving of the way Gwen had spoken to Ianto. He was relatively sure they didn't share her sentiments. However, if Jack was wrong he didn't really want to know right now. He was too worried about Ianto.

Jack stalked along the catwalk above the Hub. It wasn't that he thought Ianto was in physical danger. Tosh had been right. It was more his heart that Jack was afraid for.

On top of being concerned for Ianto, Jack was lonely without him. The Hub was large and cavernous and it echoed with each of his footsteps. He used to like the echo but now it just made him acutely aware of Ianto's absence.

Pulling his mobile from his pocket again, Jack dialed every number he had for Ianto one more time. Voicemail all around. He decided to give up for the night and just wait until Ianto came in to work in the morning.

Jack headed for his office and his decanter. It was going to be a long night.

Jack knew he was pacing his office. He knew he was checking his watch every 30 seconds. What he didn't know was where Ianto was and why he was two hours late for work.

He went to stand in the doorway of his office. Gwen sat quietly at her station, not looking up and not speaking unless spoken to. She had tried three times to engage Jack and he had pointedly ignored her so she'd given up.

He wrapped his arms around his chest and watched Tosh and Owen for a few seconds. Owen noticed him first and swiveled his chair around until he faced Jack but he said nothing.

"Tosh," he said quietly.

Toshiko looked up form her monitors, "Yes, Jack?"

"Any idea?"

She pressed her lips in to a thin line, "None."

Jack sighed heavily. He finally decided what action he was going to take and then put motion to thought. He grabbed up his coat and shrugged it on as he headed for the exit. "Owen, hold down the fort. Tosh, you're with me."

Owen's only response was a small salute. Toshiko said nothing at all as she snatched up her coat and ran to catch up to him.  
.................................................................................

Jack stood outside of Ianto's flat with Tosh beside him. He raised his hand and knocked.

Nothing.

He raised his hand and knocked louder.

Nothing.

He raised his fist to pound on the door.

Silence.

"Ianto!" Jack yelled at the door as he pounded yet again.,"Ianto; if you're in there, open up."

Not a sound from within.

"Ianto, Tosh is with me and we just want to make sure you're okay. We'll leave again once we've seen you."

Silence.

Beside him, Tosh pulled the alien unlocking device form the depths of her bag.

Jack gave a small smile at her ability to anticipate his actions and to plan ahead. He stayed her with a hand gesture as he withdrew his key ring from his trouser pocket. Hanging snug against the TARDIS key was the one he was looking for. Holding it up for Tosh to see, Jack inserted it in to the lock with a flourish.

"Of course." Tosh said under her breath, as if Jack having a key to Ianto's flat should have been obvious.

Jack stepped inside cautiously. Neither he nor Tosh had their weapons drawn as there really was no indication that was needed. "Ianto?" Jack called out and was met with silence.

Jack gestured to the left, "Kitchen's that way." Tosh moved off to check that area. Jack headed toward Ianto's bedroom. Pushing the door in carefully, he saw a form occupying the bed.

"Tosh! In here!" Jack called, moving toward the figure in the bed. He sat down on the edge beside Ianto and ran a hand over the younger man's hair. "Hey, Ianto. Ianto, wake up."

Ianto lay on his left side and was burrowed in to the covers. Jack heard Tosh enter the bedroom. "Is he okay?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, yet," he responded, shaking Ianto's shoulder a little more roughly, "Ianto! Ianto, can you hear me? Wake up!"

The firm jostling seemed to reach Ianto, "Wha?" He said in a grouchy and groggy tone. One eye cracked open ever so slightly.

"Ianto, can you hear me?" Jack asked sharply.

"Yes!" The younger man growled closing his eyes again and burrowing back in to his pillow.

"Ianto, we were worried about you. You didn't show up for work, you didn't call to say you wouldn't be in. We haven't heard from you since you left yesterday morning."

"Hang over." Ianto said by way of explanation.

Jack shook his head, "Jesus, Ianto. A phone call would have been nice. Last night or this morning."

"Sorry, Jack." Ianto sighed.

"Are you sure it's just a hang over?" Jack inquired, taking in Ianto's pallor. He seemed to be more out of it than he should be with your usual hang over.

"Yeah," Ianto replied, "went dancing. Got pissed."

Jack smiled at this reply and let his head hang down, "Did you have fun at least?"

"Mmm hmm."

Jack ran his hand over Ianto's mussed hair again, "That's all that matters, then." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Ianto's temple, "Call me later when you wake up. We need to talk."

"Kay." Ianto sighed.

"I expect you back at work tomorrow so no wild night, tonight. Understand?"

"Mmm hmm."

"Remember to call me." Jack kissed Ianto one more time before he stood to leave.

Finding Ianto's coat, Jack was able to locate his mobile inside one of the pockets. He turned the phone back on and replaced it in the pocket.

"Is he okay?" Tosh asked from the bedroom doorway.

"He says he's just hung over but it doesn't track."

"How so?" Tosh followed Jack around the flat as he went from room to room checking for anything out of the ordinary. Anything not as it should be. He found nothing amiss.

"Ianto drinks but he doesn't get drunk." Jack answered Tosh.

"I've been out drinking with him before," Tosh said in confusion, "I've seen him pissed."

"You've seen him mildly pissed but able to drink some water, take an aspirin and sleep it off well enough to be to work on time, impeccably dressed."

"That's true." Tosh hesitantly agreed.

"He's never gotten so drunk he's lost track of time or couldn't function the next day," Jack paused as he checked to see if Ianto's house phone was turned to audible. Satisfied it could be heard if it rang, he turned back to Tosh, "He's never drunk that much. Not even in the days after Canary Wharf."

Tosh turned her head to silently regard the empty doorway to Ianto's bedroom, "It's so easy to forget he lived through that." she said quietly.

"For us it is, anyway," Jack amended, "Tosh, do you have any kind of small tracking device we could somehow plant on Ianto that he wouldn't be aware of?"

"Jack?"

"Something isn't right. I don't want to spy. I just want to make sure he's okay. I'm afraid someone might have drugged him or maybe he's sick."

"Biofeedback nano-bots," Jack considered this idea while Tosh explained, "you can get them into his system in a glass of water. They'll be active for 48 hours giving us access to all of his vital stats as well as allowing us to track all of his movements."

"What happens after 48 hours?"

"They initiate auto shut down and become inert so they can be absorbed in to his system with no lasting effects."

"Perfect. I'll take you back and we can retrieve the nano-bots then I'll come back and get Ianto a drink of water."

........................................................................

Jack sat at his desk and watched his monitor as it displayed Ianto's vital stats. Heart rate and respiration were all at resting rates. All readings showed he was still sleeping but was on the verge of waking. Owen assured Jack that all of the scans indicated Ianto was perfectly healthy, just asleep. Jack was still worried, though since Ianto had not awakened or moved since Jack had left the flat the second time.

The readings fluctuated and stabilized at much higher rates than they had been previously. Jack took it to mean Ianto was finally awake.

An instant message window popped up on his screen.

TOSHIKO: Looks like he's awake.

JACK: I see that. TKS Tosh.

TOSHIKO: Owen says he looks normal and healthy.

JACK: Then keep an eye out 4 changes &amp; anything unusual.

TOSHIKO: k.

................................................

Jack snatched up his ringing mobile. The screen read; 'IANTO'.

"Ianto!" Jack answered, "How's the head?"

"Painful. I'm tired and thirsty and my head feels like lead." Ianto replied groggily.

"Do you need anything?" Jack asked.

"I'll be fine. I'm going to get some take-away, drink a lot of water and take a shower."

"Sounds good," Jack said non-committaly, "shall I come by when we're all done here?"

"I'd rather give it another day, Jack," Ianto said quietly, "I want to go out again tonight. Alone. We can sort it all out when I get there tomorrow."

Jack's heart leapt in his chest. Was Ianto pulling? It sure didn't seem like Ianto but then Jack was willing to bet no one had ever said the things to or about Ianto that Gwen had said yesterday. 'Abnormal reactions to abnormal situations are in fact normal.'

That's fine. Feel free to call if you change your mind, though."

"I'll do that."  
...................................................................

Now that Ianto was awake, the monitoring of his vitals became a secondary concern in the Hub. He seemed normal. He seemed fine. Jack waited for what he had come to view as the inevitable anomalies.

It was just after dark when an instant message screen popped up on Jack's monitor.

TOSHIKO: I think he's left the flat.

Jack moved the vitals monitor to the top window. Along with the slightly elevated readings that were normal for someone walking down a street, the city map tracking Ianto's movements was now active.

JACK: Looks that way.

TOSHIKO: Forgot to tell u. Nano-bots will detect heat signatures of nearby life forms.

JACK: Meaning?

TOSHIKO: If anything approaches him that isn't "right" we may get a reading.

JACK: Ah. TKS.

...............................................................

The Cardiff city map showed that Ianto had gone in to a semi-popular club in a trendy part of town. It was a weeknight so it wouldn't be as crowded as on a Friday or Saturday. As he watched the information scroll across the screen that was the electronic representation of Ianto, he was learning to separate the external from the internal readings.

Ianto was surrounded by a swarm of people. All were safely human. Some were reading warmer than others which Jack took to mean that they had been dancing. Ianto's pulse, respiration and endorphin level indicated he was happy. Most likely enjoying himself. This made Jack happy in spite of the fact that he wished he were with Ianto somewhere a little more quiet.

The evening wore on and yet none of the team made to leave. Not even Gwen. Jack didn't bother to send them home. His gut told him something was going to happen and that he'd just have to call them back. He knew Ianto's seeming lack of discipline and self control was so far out of character that there was something else going on. No one was questioning this conviction which left Jack mildly surprised. What their motivations might be, Jack didn't care.

It was officially night when the first anomalous external reading was observed. Motion indicated a humanoid presence but the heat signature was significantly colder than all the other readings surrounding Ianto.

Jack pulled up his instant message screen.

JACK: Do u see that, Tosh?

TOSHIKO: yes.

JACK: enough info to ck against alien database?

TOSHIKO: Not yet.

OWEN: time to get eyes on?

Jack sat and considered for a long moment. The anomaly was the leading edge of verification that his gut had been right, but moving too fast too soon could cause Ianto to think they were spying on him. That they didn't trust him. Jack liked the alternative even less.

JACK: u 3 meet me at the SUV in 10.  
..............................................................................

They had to move unnoticed through the crowd in the club. Jack had instructed them to blend in so they could monitor Ianto unobserved. Before leaving the Hub, Jack had thrown on a waistcoat and rolled his sleeves to his wrists to fasten them. He left his greatcoat in the SUV. On short notice it was the best he could do to blend in. Jack was just going to have to stick to the shadows.

Ianto stood at a tall table, resting an elbow on it while he sipped from a glass containing a clear liquid. They knew from the readings Tosh was surreptitiously monitoring from her portable scanner that Ianto was most likely drinking water.

What bothered Jack the most was the pretty blond that stood close to Ianto, occasionally touching his arm or hand as they talked. Ianto seemed to be sincerely interested in what she was saying to him. Had it been a man chatting Ianto up and not a cute young woman, and had they not had their blow up the day before, Jack wouldn't have thought twice about the scene before him.

Owen's voice came through the com system, "Well would you look at our little Ianto, charming a lovely lady."

Jack made no comment at all. It was Tosh who replied, "If you're surprised that a lot women find Ianto attractive, you don't know much about women."

'You go, Tosh.' Jack thought to himself with a small smile.

"It's not that I'm surprised women find him attractive, it's that I'm surprised he'll say enough words in a row to keep one interested. Not a big talker, our Ianto."

"Have you tried actually talking to him, Owen?" Jack asked quietly, "Beyond your witty insults?"

"Can't say that I have." Owen confirmed.

"Then it's safe to say that not only do you know nothing about women but you know nothing about Ianto, either." Tosh concluded.

"All right, kids." Jack stopped the bickering before it escalated.

"Jack, can you see the long haired bloke at the table behind Ianto?" Tosh asked.

Jack refocused his gaze on the man in question, "Yeah."

"He's the source of the anomalous readings."

Jack's eyes narrowed as he began to take stock of the man in question. He was tall. Taller than Ianto. He wore his wheat colored hair down past his shoulders. His features were angular. Jack couldn't determine eye color at this distance but the facial features were strong and prominent. In Jack's estimation, the man was hot.

"Body temp beyond cold. No pulse or respiration at all." Tosh read out.

Okay. Not hot, per se.

As they watched, the strange man reached out to touch Ianto's shoulder. Almost in slow motion, Ianto turned from the blond to regard the man behind him. Jack thought Ianto almost looked dazed or drugged as he turned.

When Ianto turned fully, the long haired man behind him leaned past to speak to the young blond woman. After a few words were exchanged, she stalked off in an apparent huff.

"Jack," Tosh's voice sounded concerned, "then that man touched him, Ianto's readings, I mean all of his readings, dropped down to the levels they were at while he was asleep."

"Shit." Jack swore under his breath. He sometimes hated being right.

The strange man laid a hand at the small of Ianto's back and began to steer him through the crowd in the direction of the door.

"Gwen, Owen, get out the front door before they reach it. Take up position out of sight but with a view of the exit."

"Yes, Jack." they each acknowledged, one after the other.

"Tosh, you and I are going to follow them out when they leave."

"Got it." came the terse confirmation.

Jack moved further back into the shadows as Ianto and the stranger moved past him. Jack's concern grew as he caught a glimpse of Ianto's blank, expressionless eyes, "Something is definitely wrong, Tosh."

"Let's figure out what and put a stop to it." she replied vehemently.

"Agreed."

"Jack," came Owen's voice over the com, "they've exited and are walking south on your side of the street. Gwen and I have taken up position across the street and we're pacing them."

"Good. Tosh and are coming out now."

As Jack and Toshiko stepped out of the club in to the cold Cardiff night, Jack looked left. He caught sight of the stranger still steering Ianto with a hand at the small of his back. Ianto was most likely in danger and it was the possessive touch of a strange man that had Jack's blood boiling.

They began to follow the two at what should have appeared to be a leisurely pace. Jack put an arm around Tosh's shoulders to further the image of a happy couple walking home from a night at a club.

"They're slowing, Jack." Owen advised.

As Jack watched, the two men in front of them stopped walking altogether.

Jack's heart raced. He had a sneaking suspicion that they'd been detected.

The stranger suddenly grabbed Ianto by the back of is suit jacket and spun him around violently to face Jack and Tosh. Ianto's expression remained vacant and he put up no resistance at all to the manhandling.

"It would appear I have something you want." a deep voice rang out in to the night as the stranger spoke.

Jack took several more steps forward, "It would appear."

"He can't mean all that much to you if you left him in enough emotional turmoil to make him vulnerable to me."

"We're a family and families have disagreements. We always kiss and make up."

"I found him before you could do that, though, didn't I?"

"What have you done to him?" Jack demanded. Ianto was standing close to the stranger during this exchange but he showed no awareness of his surroundings at all.

"I claimed him."

"What does that mean?"

"First, tell your two friends across the street to come out of the shadows."

Jack wasn't sure how the stranger knew about Owen and Gwen, but they'd obviously lost the element of surprise so, "Owen, Gwen, come out where we can see you."

The two emerged from the shadows and stepped out in to the street several yards from where Ianto and the stranger stood. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to stand up wind of a predator?" the stranger asked in a voice tinged with sarcasm.

"What are you?" Jack asked.

"How do you know I'm not human?" the stranger smiled an evil smile. Jack thought he detected slightly elongated eye teeth and his heart picked up pace again.

"I've got readings of you that indicate your vitals are something other than human." Tosh supplied.

"Earth doesn't have that kind of tracking and reading technology yet!" the stranger said with confidence.

"Torchwood does." Jack stated flatly.

"Torchwood, Torchwood," the stranger appeared to be searching his memory for the significance of the name. Recognition finally lit his eyes, "Ah! You lot killed Tepish."

"I staked him myself." Jack said hotly, holding the stranger's eyes.

"Harkness?" the stranger asked incredulously, "Human's don't have that kind of life span. Are you going to tell me Torchwood does?"

"No. Just me."

"Do you mean to tell me that I stumbled unwittingly onto Harkness' pet?" with this, the stranger leaned in and ran his tongue from Ianto's jaw, along his cheek, clear to his temple. Ianto gave no response at all. "Oh, lucky me!"

"He works for me. They all do. We're all Torchwood."

"Well goody for you." the stranger sneered.

"Let him go and I'll let you leave the planet alive." Jack offered.

"Uh….no. I like it here. I see what Tepish liked about you. So soft. So warm. So easily made willing."

"Harming him is just going to get you staked like Tepish. You know Earth is off limits to you. They're infants. Innocents."

"You just don't get it, Harkness," the stranger said, grasping the neck of the mock turtleneck Ianto wore under his suit. Dragging down the left side, he bared Ianto's throat for the team to see.

Two distinct puncture marks. Jack started forward with a strangled cry. The stranger dragged Ianto backward an equal number of steps.

"You left him vulnerable last night. He's already under my thrall. There is nothing you can do."

Before any of the team could react, the stranger appeared to kiss Ianto's neck in the same location as the existing puncture marks.

Jack made a mad dash for the two men, but by the time he reached where they stood, the stranger was no where to bee seen and Ianto was sliding to the ground.

Jack caught and cradled the younger man, lowering him the rest of the way to the sidewalk. "Owen, he needs you!" Jack shouted, "Gwen, bring the SUV around!"

"Jack, what just happened?" Toshiko asked desperately.

"We need to get him back to the Hub," he said, ignoring her question, "what are his current readings?" Jack asked Tosh directly.

She consulted her scanner, "Dropping. Pulse, respiration, body temp, metabolic rates. Everything. It looks like he's dying." she finished lamely.

The SUV stopped beside them with a screech of tires and further conversation was impossible as they lifted Ianto's limp form in to the boot. Jack and Owen climbed in with him.  
Gwen did a great job of getting them back to the Hub in record time. Exiting the SUV, Jack and Owen carried Ianto's still unconscious form between them.

"Jack," Owen panted, "I can't explain it but it's like his body is dying but his brain isn't."

"As if he were turning in to a vampire, you mean?" Jack asked seriously.

Owen looked at Jack in undisguised surprise, "Exactly. Well, I guess, but…" Owen trailed off.

"What?" Jack demanded.

"I was about to say there's no such things as vampires but then I remembered how many times we've scoffed at people who've said the same about aliens."

"Nothing says a vampire can't be an alien." Jack stated.

"Unless you know something I don't, the only idea I have right now is to try to keep the body warm and alive while we sort this out. Try to slow whatever change is taking place. Hot water bath and adrenaline straight to the heart."

"It's a place to start," Jack said, "Gwen, head to the lower showers and fill the bathtub as hot as you can get it without taking skin off."

"Yes, Jack." She replied then took off at a run to comply.

"Tosh," Owen said, "you know where I keep the adrenaline syringes?"

She nodded assent.

"Get several." Owen instructed.  
................................................................................................

Once in the lower shower room, Jack propped up Ianto's limp form while Owen removed his suit jacket, shoes and watch. Together, they lowered him in to the steaming hot bath. Jack gasped when his own skin touched the water. Ianto showed no reaction whatsoever and that scared him.

Owen tore open one of the adrenaline packets and removed the syringe cap. Jack pulled Ianto's shirt from his trousers and lifted it to bare the younger man's chest. Owen moved around to the other side of the tub, felt along Ianto's breast plate for the appropriate spot, raised his arm and plunged the needle in to his heart.

Ianto didn't even flinch.

Owen stepped back and Tosh came forward with the scanner, "BP and respiration are rising. Body temp is rising. It looks better."

Jack sat back on his haunches and heaved a sigh of relief. He looked back up at Ianto and didn't like what he saw. He looked so weak and fragile. He was paler than normal, his lips nearly colorless. There were dark smudges beneath his eyes. Jack was silently kicking himself for giving Ianto his space last night. He should have tracked him down after the first couple of hours he didn't answer his mobile phone.

"Let's get him out of his clothes. It'll be easier to regulate his temperature that way. I'm going to start running tests. I'll swab the wound site, draw blood, anything I can think of." Owen moved to pull Ianto's arms from the shirt so he could slide it over his head. Jack unfastened his trousers to slide them off, taking Ianto's socks with them. "That's good enough," Owen said when they had Ianto down to his black boxer-briefs, "any ideas what I'm looking for, Jack?"

Jack shook his head, "We didn't have the technology a hundred years ago to understand what was happening to Tepish's victims."

"Wait," Tosh said from behind Owen, "you're not talking about Vlad Tepish?"

"The very same." Jack said glumly.

Gwen spoke from where she leaned against the far wall, "So next you're going to tell us 'Dracula' is non-fiction?"

"Not exactly but Bram Stoker had part of it right." Jack confirmed.

"Of course he did." Owen sighed.

"Vlad was an alien. His species has a very long lifespan. His planet had a civil war that was very bloody and Vlad was a primary architect of that so when it was over, they sent him packing. He found his way here and some how got Vlad Dracul to adopt him in to the Wallachian royal family. He made war, slaughtered his enemies, was taken prisoner and repelled invaders. Pretty much what he did on his own planet."

"Were you really the one who staked him?" Gwen asked.

"VanHelsing was based on a much older man with a wide knowledge of science, the occult and other esoteric subjects. By the beginning of the 20th Century I was somewhere around 65 years old; chronologically, anyway." Jack looked up at the three faces watching him intently, "Is this making sense to you now?"

"Wow." was all Tosh could say.

"Torchwood insisted Mr. Stoker base Dr. VanHelsing in Amsterdam to protect my identity and he was kind enough to cooperate."

"So is your real name Abraham?" Gwen asked.

Jack ignored her, "For centuries, Tepish lived as a legend; a ghost story. As your western civilization entered the industrial age and superstitions receded, the manner in which Vlad fed started to draw attention. He made the mistake of taking up residence in London."

"Torchwood noticed." Owen said.

"Yep."

"What about Elizabeth Bathory?" Tosh asked.

"She was just a nutter." Jack replied.

"But what do we know about the mechanism of feeding?" Owen redirected the conversation.

"Tosh, can you search the archives for anything we have on Vlad and related subjects?" Jack asked, "I may have forgotten some things."

"Absolutely." she ran off to do his bidding.

"What I can recall is that they can feed completely via exsanguination. We theorized there might be a fluid uptake system in what is basically their canine teeth."

"Ianto's weak and ill but his blood pressure indicates he hasn't been bled."

"That was always the confusing part. The victims they turned in to blood drinking wraiths were only ever partially exsanguinated, if at all."

"I wonder if the fluid intake system might also be a venom delivery system?" Owen appeared to be thinking out loud.

"I never thought of that," Jack said thoughtfully. He activated his com, "Tosh?"

"Yes, Jack." Came her reply.

"Drag out everything on Matheson and his theories from 'I Am Legend'." he told her.

"Will do." she confirmed.

"In the 1950's I suspected the U.S. had a 'vampire' experience. Matheson's book is interesting and he was the first I know of to put forth vampirism as a pathogen." Jack told Owen. "It may not matter, though. We could never figure out how to reverse the process, so we just executed those 'bitten'." Jack fell silent as he, Owen and Gwen looked down at the still unconscious Ianto.

"When it comes to 'vampire' origins though, van Vogt got it exactly right in 'Asylum' in 1942."

"He wrote them as aliens?" Owen asked.

"Yep."

At that moment, Tosh re-entered the shower room at a run, "I found several files. One of the names of the Torchwood staff has been redacted all throughout. I assume that's you, Jack?"

He nodded, "Most likely."

"Doesn't matter. Listen to this: 'skin of said race is photosensitive so while they are not strictly nocturnal, they do move about mostly at night for their own safety. Their muscular/skeletal system is so dense and strong that there are only two known ways to kill them. The first is beheading, but you must have an instrument sharp enough to cut through the spinal cord. The second is to find a way to generate enough force to shove an object through their breast plates so that it will remain lodged long enough for them to bleed out and die'."

"That sounds right," Jack confirmed.

"There's more and it explains a lot," she continued, "this file says: 'it is theorized that this race possesses some sort of mild mind-control ability. It has been observed by more than one Torchwood Agent that victims appear willing before they are bitten, as if held in thrall'."

"We sure observed that with Ianto." Owen said.

"And something he said about Ianto being emotionally vulnerable. I wonder if that's how it works. Something about brain chemistry or emotional weakness leaving victims open to the manipulation." Jack mused as he looked down at Ianto and gently stroked his hair.

Tosh switched to another file. "This one is on the Matheson texts: 'Matheson has diverged from traditional vampire legend by making the condition a result of a bacterium that converts the human victims. The bacterium could be killed by sunlight and garlic, but the infected died along with the pathogen. Staking victims caused the wound to remain open long enough to kill the bacterium as well. Subjects exhibited unusual physical strength, resistance to trauma and rapid healing. Matheson's text concludes with human's developing a vaccine. The voracity of anything in the Matheson text has not been verified."

Tosh closed the file and everyone remained silent for several moments.

"Right," Owen said, breaking the silence, "so back to Plan A. Test the shit out of Ianto."

"You'd better get started, then." Jack said.

"On my way to get my kit. Oh, someone should stay with him and keep the bathwater hot. Also, if his vitals start to slip, someone should be here to hit him with another dose of adrenaline."

"I'll stay with him," said Jack in his no-nonsense voice, "I'll keep my com open if any of you need me. For now, Tosh, you see what you might be able to rig to protect us from any kind of detection or manipulation to emotion based mind-control. Ianto's predicament can reasonably leave a couple of us emotionally vulnerable."

"I'm on it!" she shouted as she dashed back out the door.

"Gwen," Jack turned to her as she still leaned against the far wall, "armaments. Collect anything we have that has any kind of ability to sever a spinal column and to make projectiles lethal."

"Got it!" she said eagerly and moved off to carry out her assignment.

With one final look down at Ianto, Owen headed for the door as well, "I'll be back with my kit."

....................................................................

Had Ianto been awake, Jack was sure he'd feel just like a pincushion. Owen took several vials of blood. He took arterial as well as venal blood. He swabbed Ianto's mouth and took hair and nail clippings. As he said he would do, he swabbed the wound site in Ianto's neck. With one more check of Ianto's eyes with his penlight, Owen sat back and looked at Jack, "That's all I can think of to do right now."

"Get started then. There's no time to loose." Jack dismissed him. As Owen reached the door, Jack called him back. When Owen was beside him, Jack reached out to pull Ianto's lower lip down with his thumb, "When you swabbed his cheek, did you think his teeth looked longer than normal?"

Owen leaned in for a closer look, "Bloody hell! They're either longer or you're good at that power of suggestion thing."

Jack said nothing but sighed heavily, "I'll get the tests started." and with that he left Jack alone with Ianto.  
Jack had retrieved a chair and now he sat beside the tub where Ianto still lay unresponsive. He had partially drained and refilled the water twice to keep the temperature high. This alone seemed to be having a positive effect, as Ianto's vitals appeared to be stable.

Still, Jack worried. Did Ianto remain vulnerable because the air still had not been cleared between them all? Was he still emotionally distraught and therefore not fighting whatever had a hold of him?

Jack crossed him arms over the side of the tub and used them as a headrest. He might have dosed, but he became alert when he heard a whisper, "Jack?"

Jack sat up straight and looked right in to Ianto's open blue eyes. They were still heavy lidded, but they were open, "I'm here." he said, reaching out to run a hand over Ianto's hair and down his cheek.

"What going on?" Ianto's speech was slightly slurred.

"We're not sure, yet. Owen is running some tests," Jack answered, but still sidestepped having to provide details.

"The last I remember was being in a club being chatted up by a very pretty little blond." Ianto said in confusion.

"She wasn't that pretty." Jack said glumly.

"How would you know?" Ianto's brow nit in confusion.

"I knew you were in trouble so we were there to keep an eye on you."

"What kind of trouble was I in?"

"It turns out you were being stalked by an alien who has bitten you at least twice. We don't know exactly how or why, but it's making you very sick."

"I thought it was a hickey." Ianto said quietly, closing his eyes.

"What?" Jack asked leaning closer.

"Bite mark. Thought it was a hickey when I saw it before my shower. Didn't remember getting it."

"You first noticed the bite when you showered today?" Ianto nodded and reached a hand up to the wound on the left side of his neck.

Jack restrained the hand with one of his own, "Better not touch it."

Ianto nodded, "I knew it hadn't been you to give it to me so I thought I must have gotten pissed and shagged some bloke in the men's."

"Tell me you're joking, Ianto."

"Only about the men's."

Jack let his head drop in relief.

"It was more likely the lady's."

"Jesus, Ianto." Jack sighed.

"I was mad, Jack."

"I know." he said softly.

"What am I doing in the bath?" Ianto asked. He glanced down at himself, "Why am I still in my shorts?"

"We're using the hot water to keep your body temp up so we thought we'd allow you some modesty."

"Who undressed me?"

"Owen and I."

"Bloody hell. Where were Tosh and Gwen when this was occurring?"

"Right here."

Ianto snorted indelicately.

"Now is not the time to be self conscious." Jack chided.

"You're right, of course."

Jack laid a hand on Ianto's cheek and ran his thumb over the cheekbone, "How do you feel?"

"Tired. Wrung out. Weak. My body aches. I'm cold."

Steam was still rising from the water in the tub. Jack reached for the drain plug anyway and let out half the quantity of water. He refilled it with nothing but hot water.

Hitting his com device, Jack hailed Owen.

"How's our patient?" Owen asked.

"He's awake." Jack informed him.

"That's good news, at least. How's he feeling?"

Jack repeated what Ianto had told him about how he was feeling.

"Well, at least he's awake and talking," Owen said, the test results are beginning to come back so I'll let you know if I get anything useful."

When Jack turned back to Ianto, he appeared to be asleep. When Jack tried to wake him up, Ianto was unresponsive again. He checked the scanner that showed Ianto's current vitals and saw that everything was dropping.

He reactivated his com, "Owen!"

"Yeah, Jack. What's wrong?"

What was in his voice that had alerted Owen that there was a problem? "Ianto is unconscious again and all vitals are dropping. Should I use one of the syringes?"

"Give me just a second." Owen replied. Jack supposed he was consulting the scans in question. "Yep. Do it."

Jack peeled back the syringe wrapping and removed the cap. Feeling Ianto's chest as Owen had earlier, he located the spot and plunged the needle in and injected the adrenaline. This time Ianto seemed to rouse slightly.

"Ianto! Ianto, can you hear me?" Jack slapped Ianto's cheeks lightly. He was rewarded with a small flinch.

"Mmm. Wha?" Ianto mumbled.

"Stay with me, Ianto!" Jack said loudly.

"Tired." Ianto sighed.

Jack couldn't rouse him again. "Damn it!" Jack hissed before resuming his place in his chair, watching Ianto sleep. After a minute, he reached out to once again pull Ianto's lower lip down with his thumb. Damn, if his teeth didn't look even longer.

"Here's what I know," Owen was saying as he stood in front the tub where Ianto still slept, "his blood is showing signs of both a hemorrhagic and a neuro-toxic substance that resembles a virus. I really do think he's been invenomated. Whatever this virus, for lack of a better term, is it's spreading slowly because of the steps we're taking, but gradually it's converting his blood and his brain both."

"What's going to happen if we can't stop it or reverse it?" Jack asked, seeking the bottom line.

"The best I can tell is that he's going to become a zombie-like creature that will need blood to survive." Owen stated factually.

"His body will in effect die, although he'll remain animated, but his brain will be mush. Whatever makes Ianto, Ianto will cease to exist."

Jack swore under his breath, "What can we do?"

"If it's like a venom, and I can get some of the venom from the source, I can possibly distill an anti-venin." Owen answered.

"Did you just say 'venom from the source'?" Jack asked incredulously.

"You've heard of milking a snake, yeah? Think we can milk a vampire?" Owen asked with an insincere grin.

"So, the fangs are the source of the toxin or virus or whatever?" Jack clarified.

"I believe so. The virus is more concentrated at the wound site. It seems to be leeching in to his bloodstream." As if suddenly remembering something, Owen strode over to Ianto and parted his lips to expose his teeth. There was no doubt. Ianto's eye teeth were growing.

"Okay," Jack said, "we have to figure out a way to catch and milk a vampire."  
................................................................................................

Jack stood at the railing overlooking Owen's autopsy bay. Along with Tosh, they had begun to formulate a plan for tracking and containing the 'vampire' as they had taken to calling the stranger. It just seemed easier.

All three of them jumped when Gwen's voice came over the com, high pitched, rapid and very, very stressed. "Jack! Somebody! Ianto's up and he's trying to bite me! He's bloody strong and I need help!"

Jack hit his com to reply. "We're coming, Gwen! Hang on!" The three of them headed for the shower room at a dead run, hoping they could make it on time.

Jack reached Ianto first. He tackled the younger, slighter man around the waist and lifted him from the ground. As quickly as possible, Jack spun to toss Ianto back in to the water. At the last second, he cupped the back of Ianto's head with his hand to prevent his striking it on the side of the tub. When Ianto hit the water, it splashed up and over Jack soaking through his clothes. Ianto tried to come back out of the tub. He reached for Jack, lips pulled back in a snarl, his newly elongated teeth showing prominently. He leaned over the edge of the tub and pressed Ianto back down with all his strength, pressing the core of the younger man's body with both hands to keep him down. Owen appeared at the other side of the tub, syringe in hand, and plunged it in to Ianto's heart. Jack felt him relax under his hands, eyes sliding shut.

Ianto slept once again. Shaking the excess water from his hands and arms, Jack turned to Gwen, "What the hell happened?"

Owen and Tosh were helping her up form the floor, "I had my head on my arms, just resting, when he suddenly grabbed my arm. He startled me and when I looked up, he was growling at me, hissing." her eyes were wide with the memory, "He started to come up out of the tub like he wanted to bite me. I backed up and pulled away but he came after me. He moved really fast and when he caught me, he was stronger than he normally is. I couldn't get way. I almost couldn't hold him off from biting me!"

Jack looked at Owen. The Doctor answered the unasked question,"Let's get the temperature of the water back up. As the virus spreads, we're going to start loosing the battle. The effects of the adrenaline won't last as long and no amount of hot water will keep his temperature up." he shrugged and looked down at Ianto with concern. "We need a permanent solution. A cure. The adrenaline is keeping him alive for now but there's no guarantee there won't be damage to the cardiac muscle even if we do cure him."The entire group was silent as the implication of Owen's assessment sank in.

"We have to try everything we can think of, Jack," Gwen said quietly, "we can't give up until we've exhausted everything we're capable of trying."

"Alright, then," Jack said, "Tosh, you got those psychic tampering shields ready to go?"

"They're ready." she confirmed.

"Good. Owen, you stay here with Ianto. Tosh, Gwen, as soon as I change in to some dry clothes the three of us are going vampire hunting."

"Oi! Jack! You'll need me along for the 'milking'!" Owen protested.

"We're going to bring him back here so you can perform the procedure under secure conditions." Jack headed for the door.

All three began to protest simultaneously. Jack turned back to them with a fierce expression, "Who's going to stay with Ianto now that his physical strength is growing? Gwen, who he's already nearly over powered, or Tosh? Who is probably Gwen's equal in physical strength. That leaves me or Owen." Jack paused to regard each of them in turn, "Who is better suited to monitor a sick patient and who is more suited to hunt down a vampire?" He spun on his heel and left the room.

"Bloody hell." Gwen said under her breath as she and Tosh followed Jack out the door.  
...................................................................................

Jack drove the SUV down the streets of Cardiff. Dawn had broken so they had the advantage of hunting during daylight hours. Tosh sat in the backseat, viewing window after window on her computer monitor. Her fingers flew over the keys as she searched for the readings that matched those of the stranger they had encountered the previous night. The readings that the nano-bots inside of Ianto had provided were invaluable. They had allowed Tosh to custom design a tracking device to scan buildings and underground structures for matching signs. The trouble had been where to start.

They'd been at it for two hours with no luck. Jack's temper was flaring but Gwen and Tosh understood and chose not to be bothered by it. Periodically, Owen would check in with updates on Ianto's condition. It continued to deteriorate. That fact didn't help Jack's mood. They were racing the clock.

Froty-five minutes later and their luck began to change, "Jack! Go back! Back up about 10 meters."

Jack slammed on the brakes, throwing both women forward but neither complained. Throwing the SUV in to reverse Jack backed them up until Tosh shouted again, "Stop!"

She fine-tuned her readings until she had the source pinpointed, "That building, there!" she indicated a three story, non-descript looking building to their left. "Top level. No movement. Two other life signs, appear human. Two more appear canine."

"Tell me they're guard dogs and not werewolves!" Gwen said.

"Werewolves give off human readings." Jack said then slid out of the SUV. Tosh and Gwen followed suit.

At the rear of the SUV they armed themselves for an intense battle. They loaded up with conventional weapons as well as alien tech. The guards and the dogs could most likely be dealt with using standard earth weaponry, but since they had to capture the 'vampire' and transport him safely back to the Hub, they also carried alien weapons of the incapacitating variety. They had to get to him without getting injured, subdue him and slap on the weevil cuffs on him. With any luck there would be an opportunity to flood the location with sunlight, giving them a further advantage.

Tosh scanned the lower level and determined it to be both unfurnished and unoccupied. Still, they made entry carefully. The readings had been right. There was no one and nothing on the ground floor. Carefully easing up the stairs, Tosh scanned as they climbed, finding the second floor the same as the first. They continued up the stairs to the third floor, already aware it was occupied. They approached the door to what Tosh could best determine was a loft apartment. She identified as much of the interior as she could, most notably the windows.

He issued his final instructions then Jack proceeded to kick in the door and both women followed him in. They each crossed the threshold carrying a conventional weapon and an alien weapon since they had no idea what they were going to face first. It was the dogs they had to contend with first. Two very large dogs of the Rottweiler variety charged them from out of the shadows. Jack and Gwen each produced a taser and fired. Both dogs yelped when the extreme voltage hit them. They fell over, incapacitated, several feet from the team. They would experience no lasting harm and just like a human they would awaken in several minutes and shake it off.

Jack stepped over the bodies of the stunned dogs and headed to his left toward what Toshiko had said was a window. Running a hand over what felt like a swatch of fabric, Jack gripped it and pulled hard. The black out blinds came away allowing bright sunlight to flood the front part of the loft.

"Harkenss!" Came a voice from the shadows, "Taking your pet must have really hit a nerve! It took you less than a day to locate my home!"

Jack followed the wall to the next window and tore down the black out shades. More sunlight reached further in to the depths of the room.

"Have you staked your pet already?" the voice hissed, "Did he try to tear your throat out? Did you have to watch him bleed out?"

Jack reached the third window and tore down the blinds. Sunlight also began to stream in through windows on the other side of the loft. Gwen was following his lead and Tosh proceeded down the center. A wraith-like human came running from out of the darkness toward Jack. Raising his sawed off shotgun, Jack pulled both triggers simultaneously. The blast from the double barrels was deafening. Jack's ears were ringing when the smoke of the gunpowder cleared. The vampire minion lay dead at his feet, little left in the way of a chest. He tossed aside the now useless weapon.

"You came prepared, didn't you, Harkness? You won't find me as easy to kill as Tepish."

"Who says I'm going to kill you?" Jack continued down the wall until he reached the next window and tore down the shade. From across the room came an inhuman screech. It was answered by the blast of a shotgun, followed by a second.

When the silence returned, Jack heard Gwen whisper, "Shite!"

"You okay, Gwen?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sort of." came the soft, breathy reply.

"Tosh?"

"I'm good." came the reply from mid-room.

They continued their slow march down the room, tearing down the shades from the remaining couple of windows. Only shadows remained in the further most portion of the loft. Jack thought he could just make out a figure standing in the dark.

"Hey, you never did tell me your name." Jack said conversationally, taking a cautious step further in to the room.

"My name is unimportant," the smooth voice hissed from the darkness, "You know what I am and where I'm from and that's all you need to know."

"Does your government know you're here? Does the Planetary Senate?" Jack paused for affect, "No, of course they don't! If they did, they'd have already sent someone to deal with you." Jack took another step. "Maybe I should give them a call."

"To hell with the Senate. Old, scared fools. Denying themselves access to such a soft, tasty food source!"

"You know as well as I that they need a chance to grow and mature. That can't happen if you start raiding the population."

"What do I care about that? They taste so good! And such easy pickings! Weak minds."

"I think you'll find my mind isn't weak. Since I am their future, you might want to rethink that philosophy of yours."

"Is there any chance we could make a deal?" Jack was sure the voice was closer to him now.

"What kind of a deal?" Jack inquired, trying to gauge his distance from his prey.

"Let me finish off the one I started. Give me back the one that was your pet so I can drain him and I'll leave this planet and never return."

"Over my dead body." Jack said as he raised his weapon and fired in the direction of the voice that taunted him from the dark.

Since the vampire's race had such a dense muscle layer, they had brought along some alien weaponry that London had recovered that disrupted the conduction of the electrical signals to and from the muscle fibers. It also scrambled the signals to and from the spinal column to the brain. It rendered anything with a muscle mass ten percent higher than human useless. Jack heard a body fall in the dark and start making choking sounds.

Gwen's torchlight searched the shadows until it found their quarry collapsed in a heap on the floor, convulsing. Jack rushed forward and attached weevil clamps to the vampire's wrists and ankles. To be safe, he also secured his arms and legs together behind his body with a third set of clamps.

"There. Let's get him to the SUV and back to the Hub. We'll deal with cleanup later. Secure the door so the dogs don't go roaming when they wake up."

It took all three of them with Jack bearing most of the weight to muscle the limp body in to the back of the SUV. He broke some laws of physics getting them back to the Hub.

..........................................................

They dumped the vampire in to a weevil cell. Jack had to apply the alien weaponry again as he started to awaken before they had the cell secured. Tosh applied some of their scavenged alien forcefield technology to the cell's perimeter and they stood back to see if it held.

When their vampire awakened, he gave an animalistic cry and threw himself against the clear front. It held.

"Harkness! You should have killed me when you had the chance."

"I still might." Jack growled.

"I can smell him! I can smell your pet! He's close. He's so close to being all mine! You're loosing him!" The vampire began to laugh a maniacal laugh.

Jack turned to leave, "I'll go relieve Owen so he can start the procedure. If he gives you any trouble," Jack indicated the vampire. "shoot him."  
Jack strode in to the shower room and made straight for Ianto's side. He didn't look good. In the time Jack had been gone, Ianto had worsened and looked nearly dead. He sat in a tub of the hottest bathwater Jack had ever felt and yet he was shivering. Violently. His teeth were chattering. At some point, Owen had dressed him in open hemmed athletic pants and a long sleeved t-shirt to help contain the heat, but that too was starting to fail.

They were running out of time.  
...............................................................................

"Your snake is in the vaults waiting to be milked," Jack told Owen, "I'll stay with Ianto."

Owen began to gather up his kit, "He had a shot of adrenaline maybe twenty minutes ago. Its effectiveness is fading."

Jack nodded in understanding, "Please hurry, Owen."

Owen simply nodded as he left the shower room.

Jack took up his previous position in the chair beside Ianto. He reached in to the water, grasped Ianto's hand and brought it up to his cheek. In spite of its submersion in near scalding water, the skin was cold. Jack ran a finger down Ianto's cheek and it too, was ice cold. He noticed the younger man's chest rising and falling rapidly, his breathing having become fast and shallow. Jack once again pulled Ianto's lower lip down and saw that his eyeteeth now resembled those of a wolf, or one of the large wild cats. The tips appeared hollow, like a hypodermic needle. Owen seemed to have been right about venom delivery. Jack released Ianto's lip and when he looked up, he saw that Ianto had been watching him.

"Owen told me everything." Ianto whispered.

"Did he tell you we've got the cure in a vaults?" Jack asked confidently.

"Owen still has to perfect the formula for the anti-venin. We're almost out of time, Jack."

One hand still clutched Ianto's so Jack used his other to run over Ianto's hair, "Don't say that Ianto. Owen's ideas have saved the day more than once. Try to think positive."

"I'm so tired." Ianto sighed.

"Just hang on a little longer, Ianto. You've come this far. Just a little further now. How else are you going to get payback from Gwen for what she said about you?"

Ianto gave a weak smile, "That seems like ages ago."

"It's only been two days," Jack told him, continuing to stroke his hair lightly, "I'm sure you've also got some issues with me, too. Even though I didn't say anything unfair to you!"

"It all seems so petty now." said Ianto.

"Your feelings are not petty, Ianto." Jack admonished.

"I was angry because I thought Gwen had said what she said because everyone considers us a fling. No one respects a fling." Ianto turned his head away from Jack.

"They should know better after all this time." Jack placed a kiss on the back of Ianto's hand.

"What they thought never should have been important. Only what I knew to be true." Ianto slid in to unconsciousness again.  
...............................................................................

Jack must have dozed off with his head on his arms. He was startled awake by the screeching of the alarms that indicated one of the weevil cells had failed. Jack didn't have to guess which one.

Hitting his com and dashing toward the door he said, "Talk to me, kids!"

It was Tosh who answered, "We're in the Hub proper, Jack! The force field failed and the vampire tore his way out of the cell. We're all fine for now, though."

"I'm on my way." he told her as he drew his gun and began to survey his surroundings. Wouldn't do to get caught with his guard down. As Jack came around the water tower, all three team members drew down on him. He put up his hands and they relaxed and stood down.

"How's Ianto?" Owen asked.

"The same," Jack replied, "how's the anti-venin coming?"

"Just another several minutes of distillation and we'll have a batch to test."

"Test?" Jack asked incredulously.

"Until we use it for the first time, I can't be positive it will work!" Owen explained, "I'm confident it will but I can't make any promises until we try!"

Jack nodded, "You're right, you're right," turning to Tosh, Jack asked, "where is this bloody bastard now?"

"He's progressing through the Hub, making his way here. He doesn't know his way around so he's slow. Plus, I keep putting up obstacles where I can. The technological ones hold him the best but he does eventually break through them. Physical barriers slow him but he's got the strength to rip through them quickly."

Jack sighed as he considered their options, "Tosh, can you close off certain sections and leave others open so you lead him up here through an entrance we choose?"

"Sure, which entrance?" she turned to being typing in commands.

Jack told her which entrance to herd the vampire through, then turned to Gwen, "Gather up the weapons we used to disable him and we'll take up strategic positions around the Hub."

"We can't, Jack." she said before he could turn away.

"What do you mean 'we' can't?"

"We had to use the one you brought in from the SUV a few times while Owen was retrieving the venom. We drained the power source and can't figure out how to charge it." she explained.

"What about the other ones we took with us?"

"We didn't get a chance to unload the SUV," she said apologetically, "we were so worried about finding a cure for Ianto, we just didn't make clearing the SUV a priority and now we're cut off from it."

It would have been nice to have the weapons but Jack really couldn't blame them for their priorities. He didn't clear the SUV either. Instead he went right to Ianto's side. Jack patted Gwen on the shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile, "Go get everything you gathered up earlier with a sharp edge. All those things that can launch a projectile with any kind of velocity."

Gwen went to carry out Jack's instructions.

Tosh turned back to him and said, "He's on his way toward the entrance of your choosing. What else can I do?"

"Just keep monitoring him and let me know if his progress changes."

"Yes, Jack." she turned back to her computer.

"Owen?" Jack asked the doctor.

"Almost. Several more minutes."

Jack sighed, "Okay, let's start cannibalizing the Hub for items we can use as projectiles. We're going to need a lot of ammo."

They were taking up their assigned positions in the Hub and awaiting the vampire's arrival when Owen shouted at Jack, "Oi, the anti-venin's ready! Let's make quick work of this piece of shite and go cure Ianto!"

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Jack shouted back.

The vampire found his way in to the main portion of the Hub through the little used passageway accessed just off of the main rolling door. He pushed his way through the heavy door and almost fell as he emerged. "Harkness!" the feral cry echoed through the cavernous Hub. The vampire stalked up the stairs to the working area and paused. It looked like he was scenting the air, "I can smell you all!" he shouted, "I can smell each and every one of your soft, warm bodies!" He moved down the ramp past the water tower until he stood by the lift, "I smell your pet, Harkness! He's close! He's almost mine and he's getting closer!"

The vampire took a step toward the armory and Jack broke cover and opened fire. Stepping out from the rear entrance to his office, he took aim with the crossbow and pulled the trigger. He struck his target but only in the shoulder and the vampire was able to easily remove the offending projectile. Gwen fired next in to the monster's back but her projectile bounced off harmlessly. Toshiko fired and although she hit the mark, it penetrated the vampire's abdomen only. He pulled it out as he had the one Jack had hit him with and turned toward the spiral stairs. Owen came down the stairs and launched a large spinning blade. It spun away and toward the neck of the vampire. It lodged in his throat but couldn't make it all the way through the spine. That too, the monster easily removed.

Jack stood his ground between his office and the armory. Owen pressed forward from the spiral stairs. Gwen and Tosh now came down the steps by the cog door. They had the creature penned in between them and continued to fire projectiles and bladed objects at him, always aiming for heart and head. Sometimes the object bounced off, unable to make it through dense flesh and bone. Others penetrated but none were either deep enough or accurate enough to create any lasting damage. All the while the vampire roared and raged at them. The team made a good show of it but they were just too ill equipped and finally ran out of objects to fire at the still standing creature.

The vampire laughed at them, "I told you, Harkness! Didn't you listen? I'm not as easy to kill as Tepish!"

"He wasn't exactly easy to kill either but I managed it!" Jack shouted back.

"I smell your pet, Harkness! He's close! So close!"

"Tosh, Gwen, the lift!" Jack shouted, gesturing them to cross the work area and in front of the water tower. This was part of their contingency plan in the event they couldn't kill the vampire.

Tosh pulled a device from her jacket pocket and proceeded to remotely lock down the Hub. The cog door locked and the lights dimmed. Jack grabbed Owen's shirt to pull him toward the lift. They met the women at the lift and Jack gestured them all on to it. Tosh's pre-programmed lockdown protocol allowed them a brief window of time to get out on the lift before the process completed and they were trapped.

"What about Ianto?" Gwen asked.

Jack couldn't look at her, "I'll try to think of something once we're safe," it killed Jack to say those words but if they all died inside the Hub, there would be no one at all to save Ianto, "we have to be honest and admit it might already be too late."

Before she could reply a new voice echoed its rage through the Hub.

"Leave...them...alone!" the voice cried and the team all turned to see Ianto emerging from the same entrance they had lead the vampire through. Ianto was still wearing the t-shirt and pants Owen had put on him. He still dripped with the water from the bath. Other than that, Ianto was nearly unrecognizable. His skin was nearly chalk-white. His face looked gaunt, his eyes sunken and red rimmed. Dark circles beneath his eyes gave him a haunted look. His lips were nearly as colorless as his pallor. It was his eyes that struck Jack the most. Ianto's usually clear blue eyes were on fire. They blazed in a feverish manner. In that moment Jack knew they on the verge of loosing Ianto for good.

The vampire turned to regard Ianto as the young man slowly approached, "Well, well. If it isn't Harkness' little pet!" yhe vampire began to slowly walk toward Ianto.

"What in the bloody hell is he doing?" Jack heard Owen ask no one in particular.

"I'm no one's pet and I told you to leave them alone!" Ianto spit out through clenched teeth.

"Have you come to give yourself to me?" The vampire taunted, "I know you're suffering! I know you're in pain! Just one more bite and the venom will finish its job quickly and you'll be out of pain!"

Ianto's expression softened, "Can you do that? Can you take away the pain?" he asked softly, tears forming in his eyes.

"Of course, beautiful!" the monster cooed, "Come to me and I'll take the pain away!" the creature held his arms open as if to embrace Ianto.

"What the hell is he doing?" Gwen asked from behind Jack.

Jack was prevented from answering by the sight of Ianto taking slow steps toward the vampire.

"Ianto!" Jack cried, feeling fear in every fiber of his being.

The monster drew Ianto in to his arms and appeared to stroke his back.

"Ianto! No!" Jack cried, feeling his team's hands restraining him and knowing they were right.

As the vampire tipped his head back in preparation for his bite to Ianto's tender neck, something happened. The monster's body jerked violently and shuddered. Next it seemed to bend forward over Ianto's right arm. Ianto jerked his arm backward and Jack could see it was absolutely covered in blood. With a shove to the body with his left hand, Ianto tossed the vampire to the Hub floor.

It was then that Jack saw that Ianto held the creature's heart in his hand, "Holy shit." Jack breathed.

"What the fuck?" Owen whispered beside him.

"It's the virus," Jack said, a touch of wonder in his voice, "the change. We knew he was gaining strength. Apparently he's strong enough to punch through the vampire's breastbone and tear out its heart."

"Jesus," Gwen whispered, "and Ianto's afraid to get on my bad side."

As they gaped at him in shock, Ianto turned his right hand over and let the bloody heart fall to the floor with a sickening wet splat. "I need a large knife or a sword." he said quietly.

Jack sprang in to action, dashing in to his office and emerging a short time later with a wicked looking long bladed knife. He crossed through the work area and down the steps heading for Ianto.

"Jack!" Owen called, "Don't touch either of them!"

"Why not?" Jack shouted as he slowed to approach Ianto.

"The blood. I ran tests on the thing and it carries the virus in it's own blood, most likely as a natural immunity."

"Shit." Jack said as he walked slowly toward Ianto, the hilt of the knife held out in front of him. Ianto took the knife from Jack with his un-bloodied left hand then transferred it to his right.

"Bloody hell!" Jack and Ianto both turned to see what Owen was swearing about, "The anti-venin!" he cried and dashed off toward Autopsy.

Ianto turned back to Jack, his eyes only slightly less feverish than they had been a minute ago. "I'm going to cut off its head." Ianto said calmly.

Jack nodded in understanding.

"Get everyone one into Hazmat suits. If Owen's anti-venin doesn't work, you've got to kill me, Jack. Then you've got to incinerate my body along with his." he finished, gesturing with the knife toward the dead body of the vampire.

Jack closed his eyes against the pain of the thought of having to take Ianto's life. He knew he would have no choice if the anti-venin failed. Opening his eyes to meet Ianto's, Jack could only whisper, "Okay."

Ianto gripped the knife tightly and turned back to the dead body of the vampire. Grasping its hair in his left hand, he hacked away at the neck until the head came free from the body. He threw it and the knife down on to the floor beside the body and the heart then turned back to Jack.

By now, Owen was standing behind him in a Hazmat suit, syringe in hand. Ianto sank down on to his knees then sat back on his heels. Owen came around Jack and knelt beside Ianto, pushing up his sleeve to administer the anti-venin. "Now this is just round one," Jack heard Owen explain to Ianto, "I'm going to dose you every fifteen minutes for the first hour, then we'll see what shape you're in and decide what to do from there. Understand?"

Ianto nodded his head slowly.

Owen removed the needle, placed a cotton swab over the injection site and bent Ianto's arm at the elbow to secure the swab. "Listen," Owen said quietly, "If this doesn't work, I just want to tell you now, while you can still understand…I appreciate what you just did."

Ianto gave him a wan smile and another nod. Owen stepped around Jack again and returned to Autopsy.

Jack started to approach Ianto as he knelt amongst the blood and gore of the dead vampire. Ianto held up a hand to stop him, "Please, Sir! Stay back until we know if Owen's anti-venin works."

"I'll stay right here," Jack said as he knelt down several feet from Ianto, "but I'm not leaving you."

"Okay." Ianto agreed. He closed his eyes and let his head fall forward to his chest.

Jack thought he looked so tired and fragile. He wanted nothing more than to gather Ianto up in arms and comfort him. It was excruciating to sit and watch and wait and not be able to touch.

"What made you come up here and do what you did?" Jack asked after Owen had administered the second dose fifteen minutes later.

"I think the virus carries genetic memories. It also seems to create a low level empathic connection." Ianto said between deep breaths.

"What makes you say that?" Jack asked curiously.

"I woke up and suddenly I knew what our strengths and weaknesses were. I knew I had the power to stop him. I also knew what he was doing up here."

"I can't tell you how glad I am you've made it this far. Just hang on long enough for Owen's concoction to take effect."

Ianto sighed deeply and let his head hang down to his chest again.

After the third dose at the half-hour mark, Gwen appeared behind Jack, "Ianto?" she said in a low voice.

The young man looked up slowly and met her eyes, "Yes, Gwen."

"I need to tell you I'm sorry about what I said to you the other day," she said earnestly, "I was mean and out of line and I don't think I can ever tell you how sorry I am."

"It's in the past," Ianto said, "if you'll recall I said something very nasty to you in return."

"I deserved it and you had every right to lash out. I was completely wrong and I am so, so sorry."

"Apology accepted." Ianto said.

After the fourth dose at the forty-five minute point, all five of them sat in silence. Owen, Tosh and Gwen traded looks amongst themselves, as well as glancing nervously at Jack and at Ianto. It was Tosh who finally broke the silence, "Jack, I have a question about something."

Jack turned to look at her but said nothing.

"Twice while you were talking to the 'vampire', you mentioned the fact that Earth is protected. That we're young and are supposed to be left alone to mature."

"Not all aliens are bad or dangerous, Tosh," Jack said quietly, "in spite of what the rift makes you think. Your solar system sits between several points in space that make up an interplanetary republic. You're too young to participate, but they have mandated your protection to allow you to develop. They won't make official contact with you for another several hundred years."

Tosh nodded and said earnestly, "Thank you, Jack." they lapsed back in to silence.

At the one hour mark Owen administered the fifth dose. Tosh brought Jack a Hazmat suit which he slowly began to put on.

Owen scanned Ianto only to find there was no significant change to date. "Since you're not feeling any side effects, we'll continue with fiteen-minute doses," Owen said so everyone in the Hub could hear the plan.

When Owen had passed her and Jack, Tosh took a step closer to Ianto, "Thank you for being my friend." she said quietly.

Ianto gave her a warm smile, "Thank you for being my friend."

"You get better so we can go get a drink together."

"Give me a few minutes and I'll be right as rain."

Tosh smiled through her tears then she turned on her heel and returned to her workstation.

Now dressed in a Hazmat suit, Jack resumed his pose close to Ianto. Their eyes met for a long minute. They didn't speak. Jack couldn't think of anything to say. He could only hope that his refusal to leave Ianto's side for the better part of twenty-four hours had already said it.

Ianto closed his eyes and dropped his head back to his chest. Everyone in the Hub fell silent once again.

Jack had no idea how much time had passed when he thought he heard Ianto chuckle. He looked up to actually see Ianto's shoulders shaking as if he were laughing. "Ianto?" he asked softly.

The other team members stirred when they heard Jack's questioning voice.

Ianto's head lifted and they could all see he was indeed laughing softly.

Jack watched incredulously as Ianto turned a not quite so pale face toward him. His eyes were not quite so feverish and his lips were pinking up.

"My fangs are gone!" Ianto told Jack as a full smile split his face.

Jack saw clearly that the elongated eyeteeth were indeed gone. He immediately crawled forward to Ianto and wrapped his arms around the younger man in a fierce hug. Neither man paid much attention to the joyful noises coming from the others across the Hub.

"Get him over here, Jack!" Owen called out, "I'll check him over whilst you and the girls take out the trash!"

Jack laughed at Owen's enthusiasm as he half lead, half carried Ianto across the Hub. They were nearly knocked to the ground when two enthusiastic and affectionate women dressed in Hazmat suits crashed in to them to apply and group hug. Their relieved laughter echoed through the Hub even as the body of the vampire was incinerated.  
...................................................................................

"Thank you for all of your help. All three of you," Jack said as he coaxed his team out of the Hub, "it's been an awful couple of days so go home. Rest. Take care of yourselves."

Owen and Tosh passed through the cog door. Gwen lingered.

"Go home to Rhys. I'm sure he misses you." Jack told her quietly.

"I will never be able to forgive myself for how I treated you both. I made a work issue personal. How can I ever make it up to you both?"

Jack regarded her for a moment. His relief that Ianto was going to be okay had him feeling magnanimous toward Gwen, "We'll work it out eventually. Just go home."

She turned and left the Hub with one final look over her shoulder. Jack finished shutting the Hub down for the night, then he crawled down in to his quarters. He paused at the base of the ladder to watch Ianto sleep. Relief flooded through him yet again at the sight of a once again healthy looking Ianto slumbering on in peace.

Owen estimated that he would sleep for the majority of the next few days. His body had been through one hell of a trauma. They had all over ruled Ianto's protests that he wanted to go home to his flat to sleep. The entire team had agreed that he was going to stay at the Hub where someone could always look over him. Too exhausted to overcome being outnumbered, he'd capitulated.

Jack removed his clothes as quietly as he could. Still, Ianto woke when he climbed between the sheets. Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto and him tightly in to his own. body

"Did everyone go home?" Ianto asked sleepily.

"Yep." Jack answered, placing a gentle kiss on the back of Ianto's neck and inhaling his scent.

"Sorry to have been such a bother." Jack heard Ianto whisper.

His eyes shot open and Jack asked, "Are you serious?"

"Mmm hmm." came the groggy reply.

"Get it out of your head that you were in any way responsible for anything that happened over the last couple of days." Jack said firmly.

"Lost my temper with Gwen. Left the Hub to pout. Ignored your phone calls the first night. I put myself in his sights by wallowing in self-pity."

"You could have just as easily encountered him doing the marketing after work one night," Jack said softly, placing light kisses in Ianto's hair, "get it out of your head that you brought this down on us."

"Yes, Sir." Ianto mumbled.

That made Jack smile widely in to the dark.

His Ianto was back.


End file.
